Survival
by sahelseeah
Summary: It's getting pretty boring for the Flight 29 Down survivors. But what happens when they find 'other' things on the deserted island?
1. Chapter 1: Letters

Chapter 1: Letters

_Dear Reader,_

We are stranded here on a deserted island--it's deserted so far-- and we need help. We were on a plane with our pilot Captain Russel when all of a sudden there was this huge storm that made us crash somewhere. We're lost. We're scared. This is Nathan--

"A letter? Oh my gosh Nathan are you serious?"

Nathan McHugh groaned and looked up to find Daley Marin peering down at him. She was standing up right in front of the tropical forest, while Nathan had his back turned on it. Nathan felt Daley's eavesdropping has gone too far. He felt he could never have any privacy here on this island.

Nathan casted his attention toward the sky, still leaving Daley's question hanging in the air.

_It's all your fault_, Nathan complained to the sky in his thoughts. _Why couldn't you let the storm come _after _we landed on our island trip destination?_

Nathan squinted his eyes towards down the beach and caught the sight of the airplane, Flight 29 Down.

_And YOU! Why couldn't YOU handle that tough situation in that storm thing? I don't understand why YOU can't just fly through it---_

"Hello?" interrogated Daley loud enough for Nathan to shift his attention to her. "I'm still here."

"Oh yeah," Nathan said obnoxiously. "Hey. Look, I don't know why you're eavesdropping on me again, but I just want to say I've had enough Daley."

"Okay sorry," Daley said quietly. "I'm just bored that's all."

Nathan heard her sigh as he stared up at her face. She had that sweet simple expression every time she wasn't on her 'Miss Competitive' side. Daley shuffled her feet and sat down next to Nathan on the beach sands.

"I'm bored too," said Nathan quietly. "It sucks how we're stranded here on this island. I mean seriously. How _ironic_ this happened this us."

"Yeah," Daley agreed. "True. Hey, let me see that letter."

Nathan rolled his eyes and surprisingly blushed. He gave it to her shyly.

Daley scanned through for about five seconds before giving it back to him. "Hey, this isn't bad after all... It's like our message bottle to the world like that raft Jackson made."

"Heh," replied Nathan nodding as they stared across the ocean together wondering if they'll _ever_ get rescued.

xxxxxx

Melissa Wu constantly grabbed the water tank and began to steadily fill it up with the water from the underground well deep in the forest. Foliage surrounded the clear passage she was sitting on and dirt spots were deserted around her hands. Another water tank stood by the well.

_This is supposed to be Eric's job,_ thought Melissa getting a bit furious. _Why does he get away with everything?_

After filling up the last water tank, she painfully stood up and stretched. Doing that job for about ten tiems in a row can cause serious cramps.

_That weirdo Eric_, thought Melissa complainingly. _If he makes me do his job one more time--_

"Hey," said a low voice coming from behind her.

Melissa's heart began to thump rapidly. She had a strong feeling it was Jackson, the guy who she liked from the beginning the airplane crashed on this deserted island.

Melissa slowly turned around and found him standing in front of her, about three feet away. He had a bored face on. Melissa smiled at him but he didn't give her back one.

"Hi," Melissa said blushing as she turned back to carry back the water tanks to the fireplace.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then suddenly there was a shuffling of feet.

"Need help?" asked Jackson with no tone showing feeling of any kind.

Melissa awkwardly grabbed the handle of one water tank in her hand and lightly blushed. "Um, it's okay."

"Okay," Jackson replied as he started to turn away and slowly walk back to the fireplace.

_Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot! _screamed Melissa in her head as she grabbed the other one in her hand, nearly dropping it. _I messed up again..._

xxxxxx

The sun began to set onto the neverending ocean as Taylor Hagan relaxed on her cozy beach towel. She began to dawdle the oyster 'sushi' in her mouth tasting it's very delectable flavor. Eric McGorril layed down a feet away from her on the beach sands closing his eyes and humming a song from the 80's.

"Eric shut up," Taylor said quietly as she turned to her side. "I'm not a big fan of the 80's."

"Sorry," Eric said mockingly, but satisfied that Taylor talked to him for the first time of the day. It seemed that today all Taylor was doing was ditching him for some reason.

"Hey Taylor," called Eric still closing his eyes.

"Yes?" Taylor replied turning her attention toward the sky which was a deep shade of gray, blue, pink, and purple.

"Just out of curiousity, why were you avoiding me today?"

Taylor let out a soft chuckle. "Because I wanted to."

Eric McGorril frowned and said," Okay. Hey, I forgot. I was supposed to fill the water tank. Oh well. Melissa will do all that."

"Hahaha," laughed Taylor. "You're so evil."

"Thank you," Eric said letting our an evil laugh. "Thank you very much."

There were serveral moments of silence between them as both of them gathered their inner most thoughts.

_Taylor's so hot_, thought Eric dreamingly.

_I want more sushi,_ Taylor sang in her mind.

And without notice, Taylor got up and ran off to the beach rocks, abandoning Eric all by himself.

xxxxxx

_Clatter. Clatter. Clatter._

Far beneath the thick green foliage of the woods, Lex Marin steadily grabbed his video electronics and set them up into an upright position. The video camera pointed towards him on the tripod as Lex pressed the recording button.

"I am still here on this deserted tropical island," he reported to his video diary. "It's getting pretty boring and everyone's not doing their jobs much as they used to. Overall, we got along, but our-- _their_ laziness has to decrease by _that_ much." Lex held up his hand in a certain motion toward the screen.

"Well," Lex continued, "the good thing is no one has died yet. Every since that incident of Eric's food poisoning, everything's gotten pretty gaudy. What I'm hoping for is everyone getting rescued before something _really_ bad happens--" Lex stopped as if he sensed something. He turned around.

BOOM!!

xxxxxx

Thirty feet away from where the loud boom occured, Nathan and Daley jumped horrifyingly.

"What was that?" Daley cried out nervously looking back at the dark forest.

"Someone screamed," Nathan said his heart thumping fast. "Melissa and Jackson's by the fireplace, Taylor and Eric's down at the campsite, but where's Lex?"

"He..." Daley said hesitatingly. "He said he was going to record something in his video diary..."

Daley's heart started beating rapidly and she looked at Nathan worringly.

"The forest...?"

The two teenagers immediately jumped up and started heading inside the forest desperate to find Lex's location.

"LEX!!!"

xxxxxx

note from sahelseeah: Chelsea's evil twin sister here. Rawrrrr. So, hello. Yes I do highly admire and enjoy watching Flight 29 Down. It is a very nice story, yet sad. So yeah. This fanfic I've created right now is my third one and I'm hoping to stick to it because the last two stories I've attempted to create weren't very... how do you say it... 'interesting'. Ell oh ell. Okay, I will update when I get a review. Good day to you.__

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	2. Chapter 2: New Discoveries

Chapter 2: New Discoveries

'Nineteen, nineteen, nineteen-eighty five," sang Taylor snoozingly as she inserted Jackson's earphones into her ear. She turned his iPod on and scrolled down on the buttons to find a good song. The sun was about to set as the sky began to turn darker and darker. She sat under the airplane hidden from anyone's view.

_Why isn't anyone rescuing us? _questioned Taylor in her mind over and over again. She dreaded the thought of being stuck here for seven more days with the other survivors. _Ugh... I miss home...and my closet...and my beautiful beautiful clothes that were in that closet... and my bed..._

She began to doze off and start to take a light nap when suddenly there was stomping on the sand nearby. Taylor groaned at the disturbance and sat up to look who it was.

"Oh..."

It was Jackson.

He had a mad stare on his face as he carelessly grabbed the earphones out of Taylor's ear, not caring less how much that really hurt, and snagged away the iPod from Taylor's fingertips. Then without a word, he walked away.

_UGH!!!!_ screamed Taylor furiously in her mind as she stood to go find Eric.

xxxxxx

Melissa tended the fire as soon as she got back from the well, still mulling over the thought of what she _could've_ said to Jackson. She threw a branch in it and the fire began to crackle, as if it was happy to get some food.

"If you were Eric I'd never feed you," Melissa spat at the fire, "_ever._"

"You called?"

Melissa immediately blushed and turned around to find Eric standing behind her looking down at the fire. He was grinning.

"What do you want Eric?" Melissa said trying to hide her face as she turned back to the fire.

"Nothing," he answered as he sat next to Melissa on the sand.

"Shouldn't you be over there with Taylor or someone doing something else instead of _this_?"

Eric coughed and chuckled. He criss-crossed his legs and mummbled,"Yeah. But... I don't know where Taylor is and I don't know where the rest of the people are. I don't know where everyone is."

"Well Jackson's somewhere over there," Melissa said, her stomach churning when she said 'Jackson'.

Eric grabbed a stick from the pile of sticks Melissa gathered and threw it into the fire. "Whatever."

_I know he's gonna make me do something_, Melissa thought miserably.

"Why don't you just say it already?" interrogated Melissa furiously turning to Eric.

"Say what?" Eric answered confusingly.

"I know you're gonna make me do something. Go ahead. Say it. I'll do whatever."

There was a few moments of silent. Then Eric burst out laughing. Melissa somehow blushed and grew angry for Eric who always teased what she had to say.

"You expect me this time to ask you to do something for me? Wow am I that respected?"

Melissa groaned and cried out,"Eric...just...UGH!!!" She stomped away into the dark forest and left Eric alone just like Taylor had left him.

xxxxxx

"LEX!!!"

Daley and Nathan were running all through the forest together trying to find the Lex's location. There wasn't much light so the teenagers didn't have much time to look. It could be an accident-- or worse.

"Where is he???" questioned Daley worringly looking behind bushes and trees. She let down a tear on what could happen to him. Nobody was with him so he was ungaurded.

After a few minutes of running around the same area over and over, Nathan and Daley stopped in a clearing to take a rest. They took in deep breathes as they sat on a large rock.

"I...don't...know..."said Nathan looking around and breathing heavily. "It's getting...pretty dark..."

"Yeah..."Daley said her heart thumping rapidly browsing around the area. "I'm worried Nathan..."

Nathan nodded and peered over to look at Daley. Her eyes were red. He could tell she was really scared.

"Hey."

Daley looked up and saw Nathan walking over and sitanding in her front of her.

"I'm worried too," he said sympathetically. "Don't worry. I'm here. Even if it's dark, I know he'll be safe. I mean...come on... he's smarter than Eric."

Daley smiled a let out a soft laugh. Then she sighed and began to stare around at her surroundings. There were several moments of silence.

Finally, Nathan shuffled his feet and looked around. "It's dark. I think we should try to head back." He sat next to Daley.

Daley nodded slowly. "I know it's the right thing to do; I mean, what if something happens to us? But... it doesn't feel right. I'm gonna feel miserable leaving my brother somewhere in this humongous forest and I don't even know where he is."

_Where are you Lex?_ Nathan questioned himself in his mind as he and Daley still sat there in the dark waiting for Lex to come out.

xxxxxx

_Silence._

"Ugh..." Lex said opening his eyes. He had to focus his eyes to his surroundings.

_Okay so I was in the forest_, thought Lex calmy. His head somewhat hurt like it's been hit by something. _And I was doing a video diary recording. Then I felt something._

The boy sat up and found himself on the dark green forest floor. Three feet away layed his tripod and video camera, along with other electronics all dirtied with mud, dirt, and leaves. He painfully stood up and walked up to them.

_That's strange_, Lex thought confusingly. _Why are they on the ground?_

He stood there quietly, dark green foliage surrounding him.

_Couldn't be an earthquake..._

Lex scratched his head. Pain seered through his brain.

_Couldn't be an extremely large animal..._

He shrugged and stared around at the forest floor for any signs of any animal roaming around. All there was were leaves, dirt, debri, and more leaves. Lex got even more confused. There was no possibility that there was an earthquake, because if there was people would be screaming by now. And Lex hadn't seen or approached any large animal in the past days he's been living on this island.

Surprisingly, he wasn't scared either that he's out here all alone ungaurded and in risk of anything that comes roaming around these forest floors-- nor does he care.

Lex knelt down and picked up the dirty camera. It was off for some reason.

_Maybe the camera recorded what happened,_ he thought hopefully as he turned the device on. He went to the previous recording button and viewed what happened.

_"I am still here on this deserted tropical island. "It's getting pretty boring and everyone's not doing their jobs much as they used to. Overall, we got along, but our-- _their _laziness has to decrease by that much." _

Lex watched the backround carefully as his 'recorded-self' kept on talking. It was getting dark that time, but the camera made it look like it was still daytime.

_"...everything's gotten pretty gaudy. What I'm hoping for is everyone getting rescued before something really bad happens--" _

Lex dropped his jaw opened astonishingly at the recorded picture.

The camera was shaking tremedously. The 'recorded Lex' fell down from view of the screen. There was a loud, screeching sound in the backround. Leaves in the picture were shaking, just as the camera was. Loud thumping occured along with more loud screeching sounds. 

Then the camera screen went black.

Lex stood there staring at the blank screen horrified.

_It was an animal_, Lex detected. _The loud sounds, thumping noises, ground shaking --all were made from the animal._

"Elephant?" Lex cried out, still holding the camera in his shaking fingers. He began to worry. What if that animal went to the beach, where everyone else was at?

Lex coughed and shivered. It was getting pretty cold too.

He looked around for any hint of what route he took to get here to go back to camp.

The ground slightly shook.

_I'm so cold I think I feel the grounding shaking, _Lex thought trying to remove that thought. __

But to his utter surprise, the ground began to shake fiercely. Leaves from trees fell off and lannded upon Lex's head. Bushes nearby were shaking tremendously. Lex was spooked by the thought of what was coming.

He tried to balance himself from falling down by standing in a kneeling position. The horrifying shaking continued. The bushes nearby grew a large shadow over it. The darkness kept Lex from clearly happening.

"EEEEEEEK," yelled out a deafening high-pitched screeching sound nearby.

Lex grew scared and jumped from that sudden sound. He began to run, ignoring all the cold wind that rushed upon his skin.

"EEEEEEEEEK," cried out the screeching sound again as Lex ran far away from the sound deeper into the forest's darkness.

xxxxxx

"Oh crap what the hell was that?" yelled Nathan loudly. His heart had made a huge jump from the loud sound that occured that moment. It sounded like an animal.

"Sounds like an animal," Daley said softly, her face growing red. "A really _big_ animal."

Nathan gulped and grew furious. What was going on?

Lex's location in this forest is unknown by the moment, and then this horrific screeching sound erupts from somewhere. __

"Maybe we _should_ go," Daley said, a hint of panic in her worried voice. "You're right. Lex is smart. He'll think of something. Tomorrow I _know_ he'll be back and come telling us about what happened.."

Nathan slowly nodded and agreed, half sure and half unsure. Then he and Daley slowly and carefully walked back to camp, being extremely cautious of anything that might just randomly pop out. Nathan and Daley assumed he'd come back.

But the next morning, he wasn't there. He wasn't _anywhere_.

xxxxxx

not from sahelseeah: Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews! Okay...ahem... anyway, this was CHAPTER 2 YO. I know... its going kind of slow... but I want to keep the mood going. I don't want there to just be an all of a sudden 'abrupt change in mood'. So what is that mystery animal? Geuss. Rawr. Okay, well, I'll update eventually. smilee_  
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	3. Chapter 3: Troubles

Chapter 3: Troubles 

"Hey," Jackson said softly staring into Melissa's eyes and holding her hand.

Melissa blushed and clenched onto Jackson's hand tighter. "Yes?"

"I gotta telll you something," he whispered. 

"Really? What is it--."

"Mel!" interrupted Taylor's 'excited' morning voice into Melissa's ear.

Melissa immediately opened her eyes from her dream. She moaned on the thought of the incompletion of her dream and turned to Taylor. They were both in the tent.

The sun's rays beamed through the tent as Melissa wondered what the dream could have been when Taylor hadn't come barging in waking her up.

"Yes Taylor?" Melissa said tiredly. She yawned and stretched.

"I found something!" Taylor exclaimed doing a wave motion with her left hand. "Come look!" She bounced out of the tent.

"Ugh," said Melissa slowly standing up to follow Taylor.

The path Taylor was leading Melissa to was down the beach sands. Melissa watched her bounce off to their unknown destination as the sun started to rise high above the ocean.

_It's probaly something someone's already found_, Melissa thought tiredly. She rubbed her eyes to keep her awake. No one else was out of their tents yet, for all she knew.

After following Taylor down the beach for at least five minutes, Melissa got the urge to ask where they were going.

"Taylor where are we going anyway?"

The blonde teenager stopped and turned around, her expression on her face looking confused. "Oh yeah, where are we going? Uh... oh, that's right." She turned and started to dart to the forest. "Follow me! You gotta see it."

Melissa shrugged and groaned. She ran to catch up with Taylor's fast-paced walk.

The sun's rays beamed through the leaves of the top of the tall trees as Melissa followed Taylor's random path. They had to dodge foliage and climb through bushes that were in the way.

"Aha!" cried out Taylor finally stopping in a green forest clearing. "We're here."

Melissa stood there beside Taylor and looked around her. She had to rub open her eyes before seeing what was really going on. Melissa dropped her mouth in open in surprisement.

_Oh my gosh_, thought Melissa.  
_  
_In front of Melissa and Taylor on the grassy forest floor were a huge traveler's backpack and another tiny bag, both a dark, muddy brown color. They looked as if they were about to fall apart and something in Melissa wanted to make her look into it.

"Whose do you think it is?" Melissa asked still shocked that Taylor found this.

_Someone could've been here_, she thought hopefully yet with fright. _Maybe it could be Captain Russel or Abby or Ian or Jory. Or it could be someone else who could be stuck here..._

"It's gotta be Captain Russel's," Taylor said scratching her head. "Well, anyway, I found it."

"We have to tell everyone else about this," Melissa whispered as she turned to run off and tell the others.

xxxxxx

_Damn it. Where is he?_

Daley Marin's head began to ache with worries of Lex's still-unknown destination. She and Nathan hypothesized and were _sure_ he'd be back by tomorrow morning.

And it was tomorrow morning already. But he wasn't back.

Not like her true self, Daley began to softly cry under the shade of the trees in front of the forest on the sand. She sobbed softly and bent her head down.

_Where are you Lex?_ she asked in her mind over and over again, dreading over the thought of something bad happening to him.

She thought about the loud sound she and Nathan heard last night in the calmness of the forest. It didn't sound like a pig, nor did it sound like a call from something tiny. She got even more frightened from just thinking what it _will_ be.

_He's not coming_, she thought breathlessly in her mind.

She hesitated and looked at the forest. Her brother was _out_ there somewhere, not even yet to be considered a teenager.

_He's not coming._

Daley jumped up and darted off into the forest.

xxxxxx

"Nathan."

Eric peered down onto the sleeping teenager in the boys' tent. He whispered in slightly loud tones and tried to wake Nathan up.

"Nathan," he called irritatingly, having the urge to scream at him if he didn't open up his freakin' eyes soon.

After a few moments of silence, there was a moan from Nathan and he slowly opened his eyes. When he got his eyes into focus and found Eric looking down at him, he cried out.

"Oh sheesh," Nathan cried surprisingly. He ran his fingers through his bushy hair and stretched for a brief moment. "What're you doing here Eric?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" he asked disappointingly.

"Maybe 'cause you keep minding people's business?" Nathan muttered quietly.

"Wha--?"

"Nothing. So what do you want?"

Eric coughed and scratched the skin on his throat. "I think I'm getting a fever or something."

"Again?" Nathan said aloud, half believing Eric. "But you just had one after that oyster meal of yours. Well, I don't believe you. Don't scare me again."

Eric coughed slightly harsher than the first one. He raised his hand to his throat and scratched it again. He forehead began to perspire.

_Please don't be joking around Eric_, Nathan thought hopefully.

"You're not sick are you?" Nathan interrogated hoping he would say no.

"I'm not sure," replied Eric coughing again, and sweating quietly. 

"Okay maybe you're perspiring because it's hot in here," said Nathan realizing he was sweating too. "Maybe we should get out of this tent. It's getting stuffy."

Eric slowly nodded and wiped his forehead which was denched in sweat. He leaned down and walked out of the tent openings. Nathan followed him onto the beach sands. The sun was slowly rising higher into the blue sky.

"See it's nothing," said Nathan lightly slapping Eric's back. "Nothing at all."

"I dunno," Eric said lifting his hand to his stomache and rubbed it back and forth. "My stomache kinda hurts too."

_I feel like a parent_, thought Nathan half disgusted.

"Have you been eating those oysters again?"

"No," Eric replied looking as if he were to vomit at the moment. He slowly closed one eye. "Is it just me... or is it getting really hot right now?"

Nathan quietly groaned to himself furiously. He didn't always know what to do when things like this happen. especially when there was no doctor. There was always Lex...

_But he's not here_, Nathan thought sadly. _Geez. Where is he? I'm so fricken worried about that boy. What is in that forest anyway? I'd go in there, but what if that thing finds me?_

Nathan thought of an idea. "Let's ask Daley."

Eric made a wet noise in his throat and said,"Oh okay...". Then he and Nathan slowly walked off to find Daley's location.

xxxxxx

The sun's beaming rays ran through the holes of the top of the trees as Lex slowly promenaded cautiously through the forest. Except for Lex's feet brushing up on the forest floor, it was quiet--_too_ quiet.

Last night had seemed like a 'life or death' chance for Lex. The animal had scared him off wiildly. This island--much less this forest-- wasn't as safe as it could get. Lex felt he didn't run as much as that in his whole entire lifetime. He thought there was a probable chance of him burning more than a thousand calories throughtout that run. 

Right now, Lex felt beaten up.

During the previous hours, he tripped and fell into what felt like a bunch of sticks which made a small cut on his left elbow. Then he tripped again but this time onto something wet and slimy which slightly drenched his shirt, and then later he accidentaly ran into a tree that was in the way because of the lack of light that was visible.

_Sheesh_, Lex said rubbing his sore bruised forehead._ What a lousy night._

Lex yawned and looked down and saw his shoe untied. He bent down and tied it quickly then stood up and looked around. What was ahead of him made him nearly scream.

A large, gray animal with what looked like smooth, shiny skin layed on the forest floor. It's eyes were closed meaning it was sleeping. A loud snore exerted from the humongous animal's mouth. The animal had big, gray ears and a large back which connected to it's huge neck. The head was enormous too, with huge eyelids that were closed from seeing anything that was happening right now. The tail trailed down to Lex's left shoe, just barely touching it.

_Woah_, Lex thought amazingly examining the humongous sleeping gray animal.

Suddenly, by accident, he moved his right foot back a little, which caused a small 'crack' on the ground from a broken branch. Lex covered his mouth as the animal's ears slightly raised a little and the animal opened both oh its large eyes. The eye was a surprisingly dark gray, admonishing the animal's skin.

Lex stood there, not even trying to dare to move, and looked straight at the large animal. It raised its head and then slowly stood up, causing a huge shake in the ground from its big steps stomping on the ground.

_I've read about these animals before_, Lex thought, half excitedly. _Just hope this one's not mean._

The animal's big eyes stared straight at Lex. Lex slowly lifted his hand and put it out toward the enermous gray animal. It slowly backed away and snorted.

"It's okay," Lex cried out softly. "It's okay."

The animal stood there quietly and curiously as Lex walked up closer to the animal.

"It's okay," he said over and over, looking straight at the animal's curious eyes. It looked determined to maybe trust Lex. "It's okay."

After a few silent moments, Lex edged his hand and carefully, yet cautiously layed his hand on the animal's face, just below its left eye. Its pupil stared straight at Lex's eye.

Then suddenly, the animal shook and backed off again, making a loud, startled cry causing Lex to jum back a little. He calmed himself quickly and said softly to the animal," It's okay..."

The next few moments were nothing but silence as Lex slowly petted the calm, enermous gray animal.

xxxxxx

Melissa gew tired. She couldn't find anyone so far as to tell what Taylor had found. There was no Jackson, no Nathan, no Eric, no _anybody_, She thought she could find at least one person within the five minutes, but after twently long minutes went by, she realized no one was around.

_Where is everybody?_ Melissa thought curiously slightly furious.

"Mel."

The teenage girl jumped back and turned around. Surprisingly, she found Jackson. Her heart started beating fast.

"Hey Jackson," Melissa said slowly hiding her blush that was arising.

"Sup? he said. He looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"I have no idea," Melissa replied disappointingly. "Well, anyway, glad to have found you. Taylor and I found something!"

"What?"

"Someone's bag," Melissa anwered quietly. "I don't know whose it is."

Jackson slightly frowned. He ran his fingers through his hair and said,"Where is it?"

"Um..."hesitated Melissa. "Follow me." She gave him a waving motion for him to follow and he obeyed.

Jackson didn't know it, but right now Melissa was squealing with joy in her mind right now.

xxxxxx

The bright, yellow sun soared over the sky as Nathan and Eric, who looked as if he were to have a heart attack, looked for Daley's location which was right now by the moment unknown.

"Where is she?" Nathan asked aloud to Eric and to himself. Waves ran to the shore and recided again nearby. The ocean was a mighty light blue today.

"I dunno," said Eric in a low, heavy voice. His forehead was drenched in sweat. "I need water."

Nathan stopped and turned to face Eric. Nathan felt a bit annoyed and worried for some reason. "Fine, but you have to help me look for Daley first."

"Maybe she's in the girls' tent," declared Eric scratching his neck. 

"But we've checked there. No one's there. This is getting pretty weird. Where the heck is everyone?"

_Why is everyone missing all of a sudden?_ interrogated Nathan over and over in his mind as he and Eric began to walk down the beach to look for Daley.

After about twenty long minutes walking on the steaming hot sands in front of the beaming sun, Nathan thought Daley was somewhere else.

_Oh no_, Nathan thought his heart thumping. _She couldn't have...could she?_

Nathan turned his imediate attention to the forest. It was as if the forest were staring straight back at him, with those eyes...

"Daley couldn't have gone to the forest could she?" Eric asked letting out a huge sneeze after that. "ACHOO."

"I hope not," Nathan said affixing his eyes to the forest and looking carefully. "I really hope she didn't."

xxxxxx

My gosh, that was kind of long... Well, there was chapter 3. I know it's going slow, but remember... I don't want any 'abrupt change in mood'... okay, well, shallom. Once again, I'll update eventually...

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	4. Chapter 4: An Unexpecting Guest

Chapter 4: An Unexpecting Guest

"It's right here."

Melissa waved her hand toward the direction towards the woods to Jackson. Jackson nodded in reply and said, "Okay."

Melissa brushed off her strands of her that were in the way of her eyes and slowly walked on the side with Jackson, who had a straight face on. Melissa wanted to blush, so she hid her face for a brief moment.

They walked through the forest for a mysterical twenty-five minutes. After that, Melissa began to get worried.

_I know it was right here somewhere_, Melissa thought shakingly.

"So where is it?" Jackson asked, sounding half-bothered.

"Um," Melissa hesitated. "I know it's somewhere around here. I mean... I wasn't the one who really found it. Taylor did and she showed it to me. I know it's somewhere here..."

Jackson shrugged and Melissa surprisingly blushed. She scratched her head and tried to stall Jackson from beginning to wanting to go away. Melissa fumbled with her fingers and said, "This way! I know it..."

_I hope so..._

They crossed through a swarm of familiar bushes and came to a calm clearing. Melissa's heart thumped. She _knew_ it was here. Someone must have moved it.

"Well I geuss whatever it is you're trying to lead me to is gone," Jackson whispered disappointingly, thrusting his hands into his jeans pockets.

"No," Melissa said, her face growing a light pink. "No, it can't be gone. It was right here. Someone must've taken them." She looked around the clearing and found a small dent in the ground; it had to be the travelers' bag's. 

Jackson uttered a slight cough and said, "What is it that you wanted to show me, Mel?"

"It was someone's bag," Melissa said slowly. "I'm not really sure whose it was, but I think I remember someone having that bag. Wait, yeah, there were more too. I'm just-- I don't know-- scared. What if Captain Russel is here with the Ian and Jory and Abby in this forest!-- I know that could be possible."

"But then what if someone else was here on this island?" Jackson interrupted, his face a bit confused.

"Can't be. Maybe. I don't know..."

"So there was someone's bags here? On this very spot?" He pointed around the area around them.

"Yeah," Melissa answered shiveringly. "I really hope Captain Russel and the others are okay. Everyone's falling apart."

"Melissa...--"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Melissa and Jackson looked at eachother, as both of their hearts began to beat rapidly. Jackson gulped furiously and ran toward the scream, deeper into the forest.

xxxxxx

Taylor sighed to herself and trudged down the deserted beach sands. Her blonde hair strands tangled with eachother as the wind rushed upon her face. Taylor miserably looked around.

_Where is everyone?_ she questioned herself confusingly. _Where did Melissa go? Ugh. I don't like this. Everyone's being weird again and running off... Soon there's gonna be no one left here except for me..._

Taylor's heart thumped with the thought.

_No, no. It can't be. No way. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to die without no one knowing it. I mean... what if someone finally found this island, but we're all dead? Oh gosh..._

Taylor snorted at that thought and kept walking along.

_Wait. What if... I was still alive and they come and find me and they come take me home?! And I get to see my clothes...and my bed... And what if I get interviewed!? Then I'll make a book on how horrific this stay on this deserted place was... Then I'd make millions of money! Oh my gosh! Yay! Money!_

Taylor clapped to herself at that thought. Her mind had an exuberant mood on and she had a fervid desire to do something crazy. The hunch made her snap back to her regular mind, and again Taylor sighed with disbelief.

_Oh what am I kidding, _Taylor thought sadly as a slight rush of wind issued upon her face. _No one will ever come... I don't even know where this island is. Are we even on Earth still?_

Taylor looked around and took in a deep breath of air. Then she expelled it out slowly after a few moments of worried silence.

_Where did Melissa go? UGH. I'm sick of this place already... Why did it have to happen to me? I mean, I didn't do anything to deserve this and besides, right now I'm doing all the work. I also found that travelers' bag thing which I put somewhere over there by the tents._

Taylor stopped walking and mulled on that thought. The only sounds that were audible were the sounds of the ocean waves, the forest's rustling of trees, and the wind.

_Dang it's quiet_, Taylor thought getting spooked. _Why is it so quiet? Oh my gosh. I need to find someone._

Taylor gulped and desperately looked around. Finding no trace of any of the group members in the area, she started to dart off towards the forest, hoping that she might find either Jackson or Melissa or anyone.

xxxxxx

Eric and Nathan silently looked for Daley around the jungle's edge. After several moments of promenading through the same areas but finding no one, Nathan gave a great sigh.

"ACHOO," sneezed Eric violently, causing Nathan to jump back.

"Woah," Nathan said, half freaked out. "Eric, maybe you should lay down."

"Maybe I should," Eric mumbled, bending down to sit on the sand in the shade of the trees. He painfully cleared his throat. "Where's Daley? Where's Lex?"

Nathan shrugged and scratched his uncombed hair. "I don't know. What the freak is in there?"

More moments of tense silence issued between Nathan and Eric. The air grew still which caused Eric to perspire even more.

Then there was more loud silence. Eric coughed sickly once more, then suddenly there was a tiny 'crack' nearby.

"Daley?" Nathan blurted out eargerly turning towards the forest.

More silence arised. Then a brief 'thud' was heard and there was a slight shake in the ground.

"Did you feel that?" Nathan asked, his heart starting to beat vigorously with fright.

"Feel what?" replied Eric unclearly. He was laying down on the sand with his hands on his head.

"That shake," Nathan said as another 'thud' came by and shook the ground again.

"I don't feel anything."

"Are you sure?"

The ground began to shake a little wilder than the previous ones and more 'crack' sounds issued from the forest.

"Yeah," Eric whispered, letting out a small cough. "Gosh I think I'm really sick Nathan--."

"EEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!"

Nathan and Eric screamed and jumped up as more 'thuds' shook the ground violently.

"Earthquake?!" Eric yelled grabbing onto Nathan's arm.

"Do you _really_ think that earthquakes make 'eek' noises?" Nathan screamed, half furious and half worried. The ground shook rapidly as the trees shook loudly too. More 'crack' noises came out of the forest.

The dark forest ahead of them began to screech ferociously while Eric stood clinging onto Nathan's trembling arm. Both the frightened teenagers stood there awaiting to uncover what the noise has in store for them.

"Why aren't we running?" Eric uttered weakly, sneezing immediately after.

Nathan ignored his call and the forest suddenly grew mysteriously quiet. No shrill noise or a swaying of trees was said on that phantasmagoric moment of silence. Eric whimpered and tilted his head downward to cough violently.

"What was that?" Nathan asked quietly, cautiously affixing his eyes towards the forest overhead. What _was_ there-- no one could've known or probaly hypothesized. For all Nathan knew, Daley was nowhere to be found and Lex was in an unknown location at the moment in the forest with--who knows-- _anything_ that could range from spoiled fruit to a humongous, digruntled animal.

"I don't know," Eric mumbled breathing heavily. His voice sounded as if it were about to be devastated and his previous coughs were getting worse.

Nathan gew impatient. His head swirled with herendous thoughts of Lex and the other survivors being... _dead_. What started off as an innocent trip to somewhere lead to be a horrible crash on a deserted, dislocated island in the middle of _somewhere_ which caused horrible, life-threatening events to occur.

With all those painful thoughts arousing in his mind, it contributed a painful headache which caused Nathan to swoon onto the beach sands. Eric continued to painfully cough his guts out.

xxxxxx

The red-haired teenager bent down to examine her round, red cut on her leg she received from the careless fall she made several minutes ago. She mulled on how she even made that _stupid_ fall when that huge, brown moss-covered branch was just right there. The cut was endlessly bleeding when she had just got it, but now the red flowage decreased by just a little. The red liquid trickling down her skin made her shiver and think about blood. Daley was eager to scratch the deep cut, but she realized it would only get worse. She worried the cut might turn into a flesh-eating disease, but Daley shook her head and told her self that she wasn't going to transform into a phobia-filled hypochondriac.

Daley had been searching for Lex for a long time, but she found nothing of anything that could give a hint that Lex was here somewhere. Daley, however, approached a mere speices or bugs on her exclusive, spooky hike through the mysterious forest. She contemplated on why it isn't fair that those creatures aren't like humans. If they could talk, then Daley will be all over them and interview their witness of anyone like_ Lex_ passing by through the forest.

Lex wasn't _anywhere_. Daley's worries had gone up about a kilometer. The air was still in the forest and the foliage surrounding her was even more still. The atmosphere above her felt slightly cold which made her skin shiver.

_What's up with this island?_ Daley thought shakingly.

She prognosticated that if she wasn't out of here, that thing--or _animal_ could discover her and attack her. Daley strongly felt that this whole massive trip of crashing to this place was a hullabaloo. She secretly wished that right now something good will happen.

Daley procceded back to the camp site when suddenly she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Daley issued a loud scream and jumped to turn around.

She immediately covered her mouth at what was standing in front of her.

"Lex?" Daley choked out, letting out a small tear.

Her younger brother gazed up at her and smiled. His eyes were dark and serious, but his grin light up Daley. Lex quietly nodded. He had a bunch of bruises on his arms and legs, and his face held a small cut. A little light crept through the tops of the trees, but Daley saw that Lex was crying.

"Lex!" Daley squealed, swinging her arms around Lex to give him a long hug. "Lex, oh my gosh! Where have you been?"

Lex slowly wiped his eyes and the flowing tears. "I was right here all along."

"I was so worried," Daley said quietly letting her little brother go and dusting off some dirt on Lex's tattered clothes. "Look at you. You're filthy and you haven't been eating. Lex, you could've died!"

"Daley," Lex said quietly patting Daley on the shoulder. "I'm okay. I really am. Look at you and your big cut. That's really serious."

Tension grew between the two sobbing siblings. Daley embraced a hug to Lex and whimpered softly. Lex's eyes flowed down sad tears. The melancholy atmosphere was still. Daley and Lex hugged for several moments; it was like time had passed by so fast. Daley sobbed as her mind was blank. It was like the world was so quiet. Daley's wish had come true. How _ironic_, but it was the happiest thing that happened these past few days.

"Daley I found something," Lex said quietly, letting go of Daley. "Well, technically, it's not really a 'thing'."

"What?" Daley asked confusingly. "Never mind that! We gotta get out of here before that animal comes and gets us!" Daley started to turn and head back for camp, but Lex grabbed her arm.

"Um," Lex answered hesitatingly, fumbling with his fingers. "See, I actually know this animal now."

"What?!" Daley blurted out. She widened her eyes and stared at Lex's dark, serious onces.

"Follow me Daley."

_Why do I have this sick feeling that this animal is not cute or cuddly?_ Daley thought weakly as she followed Lex through a path towarrds their destination.

Daley followed Lex through a series of random paths. Thorn bushes and more foliage stood in their path, but Lex carelessly shoved through them quickly as if he was a hurry to show the 'thing' that he wanted to present. His facial expression looked sad and confused, but his action right at the moment seemed automatic. Daley wanted to urge Lex into resting, because he looked as if he were to swoon any moment from all the bumps and bruises his skin contained.

About twenty long minutes was fritted away and the tired teenager slowly followed Lex's path. It took quite a while, and then again Daley felt that this forest wasn't _too _wide. It would become absolutely dangerous if they got lost.

Daley's left leg started feeling itchy. She painfully tried to shift her mind from not wanting the urge to scratch, but the itch was becoming a bother. Daley slapped her ankle and examined the cut. The red blood had hardened, but the deep cut was still visible and eye-popping.

"Lex don't you want to rest?" Daley asked finally, and hoping Lex would say yes.

"Wait," he replied busily. "We're here."

_Huh?_ Daley thought.

She shifted her head upward and looked at her surroundings. It was slightly dark; the day was about to come to an end. But through the slight darkness, Daley could still witness what she saw. Dark, unidentifiable trees eclipsed the view of other trees which arrested Daley's utter most attention. The ground under her feet was wet and moist but the air was hot and still. Lex stood beside her with his arms crossing one another. He was looking staright ahead down at the ground.

Daley tried to see what Lex was staring at. His eyes were gazing upon a humongous, gray rock on the ground. Daley thought she swore she saw huge, flapping ears, but she giggled in her mind that rocks didn't have ears.

"Look," Lex whispered, his attention affixed upon the dark gray rock.

"It's a rock Lex," Daley replied, half confused.

"No it isn't. Look carefully."

Daley shrugged and gazed upon the gray thing she thought was a rock. Daley squinted her eyes and moved her head closer to examine what the 'real thing' was. It looked _humongous_-- Daley knew that-- and it looked as if it had flapping ears too. The rock's giant structure seemed as if it were breathing too, and it was connecting to a somewhat-like neck which connected to the other rock with the flapping ears. The 'breathing' rock looked about eight feet high if it were to stand up be itself.

"Gosh it's pretty dark here," Daley said quietly, still examining the rock. "Lex we should go. What if we can't find our way back?"

"We will," Lex replied grabbing onto Daley's hand and pulling her towards the breathing rock. "Daley, climb on."

"What?" she asked terrified. "Lex, I don't know. I'm starting to get a feeling that this 'animal' you're pointing out is dangerous."

"Fine," her little brother answered softly, letting go of Daley's hand. "I'll go." He swung his foot over the large breathing rock and set himself in a comfortable position. He set up his back straight and patted the rock lightly. There came a rumbling sound, and the rock suddenly moved which caused Daley to scream out of astonishment.

"It moved!" Daley yelled, worried. "Lex get down there. It's not safe. Lex!"

The rock, which turned out to be a living, breathing animal, slowly stood up on its four dark gray legs that connected to its humongous feet. Daley walked about two feet backwards away from the humongous, dark gray animal. The emptiness of light made it hard to see what kind of animal it was, but it sure looked like an elephant.

"Lex!" Daley screamed. "Lex, oh my gosh! Lex, get down from there!"

"Relax," he said calmy. "Daley, this elephant won't bite you. Sure, it would scream, but it won't bite."

_ELEPHANT??! _Daley screeched in her mind. She mulled on why she was even her at the moment. Although she gratefully found Lex, the happy moment was crushed by the appearance of a large, approximately eight feet tall _elephant_.

"What's an elephant doing here?" Daley asked shakingly. She could feel the heavy animal's attention arrested on Daley.

"That's what I'm thinking about," Lex replied faintly. The forest was calm and quiet, but Daley's mind was screaming. Lex let out his dirty, septic hand out to Daley. "Hop on. This animal will give us a ride back to camp."

"Are you serious Lex?" Daley asked, squinting to see Lex and the elephant through the faint rays of light.

"It's getting dark Daley. It'll be quicker. Trust me."

Daley contemplated with the thought of riding an elephant. They were huge, scary, and the back of the elephant was a long way down to the ground.

_No_, Daley thought exhaustedly. _No way. There's no possibility that I will be riding that elephant. It's dangerous. Itt's unsafe._

The forest gew with heavy darkness several minutes later and the chances of seeing _anything_ were slim, but Daley finally rode with Lex tiredly on the huge, dark gray elephant all the way back to camp.

xxxxxx

The bright yellow ball of sunlight slowly dipped into the neverending blue ocean as Melissa threw a bunch of branches into the crackling fire. The sky was a very dark blue over the ocean but it was black overhead of Melissa. She gazed at the bright red flame before her eyes and gathered her thoughts. She had just inserted her thoughts on her video diary, and now she felt exhausted.

_It's getting boring_, Melissa thought as she let go a sigh. _No one ever does anything anymore. It's like we're dead._

She pondered on the thought of Jackson, which surprisingly made her heart thump. _I don't know about Jackson anymore_, she thought breathlessly. _I just have a feeling that he thinks I'm weird or something. I want to understand him, but he's always running off somewhere. He already knows I like him, but maybe I have more feelings to say._

Melissa threw another stick into the fire which crackled loudly.

_I don't want to hurt him. I already hurt myself. Ugh... I hate this. I sort of regret going on the trip in the first place, but I forget all about regretting when I talk to _him. _It's so weird how all these feelings I have for him are so... strong. His mysteriousness attracts me. Ugh...shoot..._

She looked around for anyone coming, but so far silence only came. Only the fire and the quiet forest accompanied Melissa's loneliness.

_Dang. Where is everyone? Why did everyone disappear all of a sudden? Now I'm really freaked. First the bags we--_Taylor_-- found are gone, and now I'm alone? I can't even think now..._

Melissa yawned and layed down upon the soft beach sands. There was a cool ocean breeze coming in, but the fire kept her warm. It was as if the world had stopped at that moment. As Melissa closed her eyes, she felt that nothing was going on right now. She felt herself relaxing with her friends back at home. She felt she was in her room, listening to her favorite song. She felt as if none of this craziness had happened.

"Melissa?" cried a voice nearby. Soft footsteps arrived by her space.

Melissa immediately opened her eyes and looked at the sky. It was nightfall, and the cloudless sky was sprinkled with twinkling stars. She set herself up in a sitting position and looked up to find Jackson peering down at her with a smile on. Melissa's heart thumped.

"Hi," Melissa said nervously, throwing a branch onto the decreasing flame, which crackled.

Jackson sat down next to her on the beach sands. "Nice night, huh?"

"Yeah. It's beautiful."

"I can't find the others," Jackson said slowly, changing the subject. His facial expression became deeply sad, and he looked stressed out.

"Me too," Melissa answered quietly. "I have no clue where they are. It's like they've disappeared or something."

"I heard a scream in the forest," Jackson declared turning his eyes toward Melissa. "It sounded a lot like Daley's."

"Oh my gosh," Melissa said softly. She turned her gaze at Jackson. Her eyes saw his eyes looked deadly serious. "I'm so worried. I'm worried about them all. What if one of _us_ dies? Do you know how painful that will be? Jackson, I want to get out of here..."

Then, suddenly, a tear trickled down Melissa eye. She quickly wiped it away and looked at something else.

_I'm crying again_, Melissa thought covering her face with her hands. _I'm crying in front of _Jackson

There was a brief, melancholy moment of silence, then Jackson put his hand up to Melissa's and slowly let them down.

"Hey," he said slowly, his eyes sad and serious. "I'm worried too. But, right now we know _we're _alive, and I have a fervid feeling that everyone else is too. So just don't worry. _I'm _here. No matter _what _happens, _I'm _here."

Melissa stopped crying and stared straight into Jackson's eyes. He _was_ truly serious, and scared. Melissa could earnestly tell. But she was grateful that he was here with her right now, even if she was crying. Melissa looked away a few moments later and sighed. There was so much emotion building up. She felt she'd explode if something bad were about to happen right _now_. But she desperately hoped that nothing _would _happen because without the rest of the survivors, Melissa probaly wouldn't be _here _breathing at the moment.

"So what now?" she asked, throwing a branch unto the blazing fire.

Jackson shrugged and stared straight up at the stars. Jackson_ was _right. It was a beautiful night.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" suddenly screamed a somewhat-like-Nathan's voice from somewhere down the beach road.

Melissa nearly screamed as Jackson quietly but quickly stood up and swiftly ran towards the location of the scream.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Reunited

The air was humid. A slight sea breeze russled by and by, but other than that the atmosphere was monotonous. Foliage overhead eclipsed the view of the black sky and its numerous spread out of illuminated stars. Along the beach of soft sands ran a determined teenager, followed by another one who looked breathless.

"Jackson!" Melissa cried out, hoping she'd catch his attention.

But Jackson did not turn back. He kept on running towards the area where the scream had originated. A slight gust of wind blew at their faces.

_Man_, Melissa thought, jogging slowly, following Jackson's trail. _Was that Nathan's scream? Oh my gosh. I hope he's okay._

The ocean was dark blue from the sky's phantasmagoric reflection. The dark blue waves whispered upon the shore line, then recided again. It was as if _doom_ was on the way, leaving an unexpecting surprise or punishment that will devestate a human as a whole. It seemed like an _undefying _threat was awaiting anybody beneath the deserted island. As far as anyone knows, there was an _animal_ in there that could probaly do anything.

They had been running for approximately five minutes. When they had reached their destination, Jackson came to a halt. Melissa followed and stood next to him. The two teenagers observed around the edge of the forest.

"Where are they?" Melissa asked hushedly.

Jackson replied by shrugging and there was a mere calm silence. Only the rustle of trees and the ascending and descending of the waves upon the shoreline could be heard--no sound of Nathan or Eric or anyone else. It was then for a moment that Melissa thought this island could probaly be spookier than it already is.

Then it happened. The ground suddenly shook slightly then rampaged onto a vigorous state. There was rumbling under their feet and a loud screeching noise had cried out from the dark forest. Then someone's deep voice screamed. More shaking arised, and then a higher voice shrieked terrifyingly. Melissa and Jackson looked at eachother horrified as the screeching noise came closer and closer.

Melissa instantly jumped back and screamed for Jackson to get away from the forest. The shaking ground had almost toppled off her balance, but she remained as still as she could get. A large dark gray figure started creeping out of the forest's darkness.

"Watch out!"

xxxxxx

_Silence._

_Uh okay where am I?_ thought Nathan breathlessly, his eyes closed. _I think I remember fainting... No wait... Yeah... What happened after that? Okay, before that there was this loud noise... What was that?_

Nathan slowly opened one of his eyelids and peeked around. He saw a dark, star-colored sky and still trees overhead. Then a dark figure...

"Nathan!?"cried the voice. It sounded like it belonged to Daley. He opened his other eye.

"Daley?"Nathan blurted out, squniting to get his eyes used to the dark surroundings. And to his surprise, it was Daley. She was leaning over Nathan, and from her facial expression, she looked tired.

"Daley are you okay?" Nathan asked quickly, getting up in a sitting position. He spotted Daley's harsh bruises on her arms and legs.

"I'm fine," Daley answered in a hushed tone.

"What happened?"

Daley paused at Nathan's question. She shook her head and sat down next to him.

"Um," she said looking down upon the beach sands. "It was horrible. I swear Nathan, it was just--oh _gosh_-- I thought I was never going to find Lex..."

Nathan looked at Daley sympathetically. He felt really bad for Daley at that moment. Having a complete thought of thinking a sibling of yours that's missing is the worst thing anyone could ask for. Nathan felt the urge to hug Daley, but he somehow held back.

"But I found him," Daley said finally a few moments later. "I actually found Lex, Nathan."

Nathan turned towards Daley, who looked up at Nathan. There was a smile on her face which made Nathan grin shyly too.

"_Really?_" Nathan asked. "Lex is back?"

"Yeah," Daley replied soflty, affixing her gaze upon the forest. "He's back..."

There was a long moment of silence after that. Daley sniffed a tear and turned to Nathan, who was staring at the ground.

"You know," Daley whispered, her face a slight pink but not visible for Nathan to see, "I have a confession... I was actually worried about--"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!" screeched a ferocious animal voice from down the beach. Out of astonishment, Nathan had yelped out a scream and jumped. He blushed and ran his fingers through his bushy hair. He forgot about what Daley was saying and said,"What was that?"

Daley set out a soft chuckle and sighed. "Well, let's just say we know what animal that was crying out in the forest is."

"What?" Nathan blurted out as Daley stood up and waved her hand for Nathan to follow. He quickly stood up and suddenly felt a backache. He shook his head and walked to the path Daley was taking.

xxxxxx

"She's so cute!" Melissa said cheerfully patting the lagre, gray elephant. "She's a _she_, right?"

"Yeah," Lex replied confusingly. "What I don't get it how an _elephant _is here on this island. I mean, I don't see or hear any other ones. It's strange that it survived."

"Maybe someone lives here," Melissa suggested, still patting the elephant.

Melissa and Lex were both at the fireplace, by the edges of the dark forest. All was calm, when suddenly Taylor came barging in the scene.

"What is that?" Taylor cried out, horrified. "OH MY GOSH. Is that an _elephant_? How did it get here?""

"Yes Taylor," Lex answered, examining the elephant's ears. "This is an elephant. And, I don't know."

The large gray animal was observed to be still a young one. It wasn't really big, because Lex knew adult elephants seemed much taller, and wider. The young elephant stood upon the beach sands in front of the blazing fireplace.

Taylor had slapped her face and wiped her eyes, hoping this would be a dream.

_5...4...3...2...1... _Taylor thought to herself, pinching her skin which hurt a few moments later. _Aw come on. Please don't tell me this is NOT A DREAM... I cannot have an elephant walking around our tents all night...UGH...!!!_

"Lex are you gonna call some person to pick up this..." Taylor paused and looked at the animal from head to toe, "well, this thing?!"

"No," Lex answered rolling his eyes calmly. "So far I have no connection to anyone outside. We did on that one day... but..."

He paused and cleared his throat. Lex's mind was beginning to go back to that day where everything went wrong.

_If only that never happened_, Lex thought, wiping a sweat mark off his forehead. _We could've all been saved... But it was that lightning that destroyed it all..._

"Lex are you okay?" Melissa asked, going up to Lex and patting his shoulder. "I know it was horrible. I was really scared. Everyone was..." Her mind started to drrift off back to Jackson.

Suddenly the dark, gray elephant snorted and moved a few paces backward, which caused a huge quake-like thump to shake on the ground. The three of them stuttered, then remained on balance again.

"So that's what it was," Melissa said, relieved. "I thought it was some sort of earthquake."

"I think earthquakes rarely happen on this island," hypothesized Lex, who walked up to the animal and patted the head. "Anyway, this elephant is probaly in great danger. Look at this place. It's not fit for elephants to go barging around."

"Yeah!" Taylor cried out. "I-I-I don't want any elephant screaming in the night... It'll totally throw off my sleep..."

"_ACHOO!!!!!!!_"

Melissa, Lex, and Taylor jumped at the sneeze. The three turned around and surprisingly found Eric standing at least four feet away from them. He looked beat up and weak.

"Eric?" Lex said astonishingly. "What? Eric. Hey, you don't look well."

"I'b sick Lehx," answered Eric weakly, as he set himself in a laying position on the sands. "Ahhh..."

_Oh gosh_, thought Melissa, examining Eric's condition. _He doesn't look okay... No, wait. He's probaly faking it so he can get some attention. Well, Eric, looks like you're getting some attention._

_I don't get it_, thought Taylor, sadly. _Why is Eric sick again? He was sick from eating those oysters.. Oh I'm hungry... Wait, why is he being like this? Does he want some attention. Well, Eric, looks like you're getting some attention._

Melissa and Taylor both raised their eyebrows and looked at the 'sick' Eric.

"How does your throat feel?" asked Lex to Eric in a docter-like way.

"Groggy," Eric replied, his face perspiring.

"What did you eat? Have you been oysters again?"

"No," Eric said softly, squinting his eyes. "I think I see the light, Lex."

"What?"

Melissa gasped, and put her hand up to her face. Taylor snorted.

"The light, Lex." Eric closed his eyes and starting humming a bizarre tune. His hand raised up and been laid down upon his forehead.

_Okay now that's just weird_, thought Melissa, as she began to get worried.

_Eric is so faking this_, Taylor thought with a hint of annoyance.

_Okay what's up with Eric?_ questioned Lex to himself confusingly. _He's acting weird. He looks sick... But what kind of hallucinations is he having? And why is everyone going up to me? They're all older._

"What's up with Eric?" said a voice from behind the group.

Lex, Melissa, and Taylor all turned around to find Daley and Nathan standing by eachother looking at them. Eric lay flustered on the sand.

"He's sick or something," Lex answered, kneeling down to check Eric's forehead. It felt hot.

_Eric's sick?_ thought Nathan, walking over to Eric and examining his state. _Again? Has he been eating oysters? _Nathan sighed and looked at the fire. It was blazing red and orange. Nathan thought that it seemed more peaceful now that he knew Daley was safe. _Wait, Lex is safe?_

"Lex!" cried Nathan, running up to Lex and hugging the boy. "Lex, you're safe! I thought you were gone man. We were worried sick about you. And you're all bruised up just like Daley... Hey... Did you happen to see anything unusal in there?"

"No," replied Lex, scratching his bruised leg. "And I'm fine. Besides, I found what we were afraid of all along."

_OH!_ exclaimed Taylor in her mind. Something went 'click' in her memory which made her remember what she had to say.

"I found it!" cheered Taylor all of a sudden. Everyone looked at her. Taylor's face looked bright orange due to the blazing fire''s reflection upon her skin.

"Found what?" interrogated Daley, half confused.

"These?" said a voice a few feet away from the group. Out from the darkness from down the beach came Jackson, carrying a bunch of bags in both of his hands. "By the way, how are you Lex?"

"I'm okay," Lex answered, looking up at Jackson, then staring back down again at Eric.

"Yeah those!" yelled Taylor excitedly, jumping up to grab them from Jackson.

"Hey!" blurted out Melissa furiously, half excited that Jackson was here with the group. "Jackson and I were looking for those! I thought they were gone!"

"Well I just put them by the tents," said Taylor calmy, as she handled the bags which looked heavy and placed them on the sand by the fire.

"Why?" asked Melissa, her face a bright pink.

"Well, I wanted to."

"But you could've told me first! Taylor, we were looking all over for it! I was getting worried that someone stole them! I thought the other survivors were really back!"

"Geez Mel," said Taylor, her eyebrow raised. "I just wanted to put it by the tents for everyone's safety."

Something popped in Melissa's head. She thought this was the last straw. Everyone stared at the bickering teenagers confusingly.

"You know what--!"

"Hey!" Daley shouted, running between the two. "Stop it you guys. Come on. We're all back together. Can't you see that? How can you fight on such a little thing when we've got more important things to settle?"

Daley crossed her arms and went to sit by the fireplace. Nathan shrugged and followed too, quietly.

_Daley knows how to settle things_, thought Nathan, wonderingly. _Yeah, she deserves to be a leader._

_What is up with those two? _interrogated Jackson in his mind, furiously. _I can't see why they're fighting on such a little thing. Screw it. I'm leaving all of them once we ever get saved._

_Ugh, _Eric thought painfully. His eyes were closed and his forehead was perspiring. _Why can't the chicks be quiet? I'm trying to sleep..._

_How unfortunate_, thought Lex, shaking his head as he still examined Eric's bad state.

Melissa blushed at what just happened and looked at Taylor, who looked tired and unhappy. "Taylor... I'm sorry..."

Taylor mumbled something to herself and nodded to Melissa. "I'm... sorry too. I'm sorry I didn't tell you okay... I know it's stupid how we fight about this stuff... But I just forget." She shrugged and sadly went to sit down by Daley and Nathan.

"EEK," cried the large gray elephant all of a sudden.

Nathan screamed out of astonishment. He looked up by the forest and saw a large, dark gray figure.

"Oh my gosh," he said nervously standing up and backing away. "Everyone, stay calm On the count of three, we run."

"Relax Nathan," Lex said laughing. Daley was laughing too. "It's an elephant. Don't worry. This one's not going to attack you."

Nathan grew slightly red. He shook the embarrassment feeling off. "How would you be sure?"

"Trust me," Lex said.

"Trust him," Daley informed, throwing a stick into the fire.

Nathan grew worried and looked at the large, gray figure again. It had big--no-- _kind of _small eyes, and it had big flappy ears that were moving! Down on the ground were its humongous toes and by the end was a long, gray tail, which surprisingly moved...

"Woah!" exclaimed Nathan, his eyes widening. "Is this is an adult?"

"No," said Lex calmy, standing up to face Nathan. "What I don't get is how she's even here on this island where there's no other elephant, well, as far as I know."

"Could be someone that lives here who owns it," suddenly said Jackson, who walked up in the light of the fire. Melissa's heart thumped at the sight of his determined look on his face.

"Now that's another point," said Lex, half confused. "Why would an elephant still be alive here? How did it even get here? I don't hear any other elephants on this island."

"Weird," commented Daley softly.

"ACHOOOOOO!!!!!" sneezed Eric violently. Everyone turned their attention towards Eric and got a bit worried.

_Maybe he is really sick_, thought Taylor, covering her face with her hands. _That weirdo. Why is he getting so sick now? OH gosh... I'm hungry..._

"Anyone got something to eat?" she asked eargerly.

_Now I'm starting to get worried_, said Melissa in her mind. _Weird, I know, but he sounds really sick. Ugh. I can't believe I'm worried about him after all he's done to me._

"What happened Eric?" asked Lex shakingly.

Nothing.

"Eric!"

_Silence_.

"Hey what's up with Eric?" whispered Jackson as Daley ran up to Eric and kneeled down to feel his forehead.

There was a brief moment of worried silence. Only the crackling sound of the fire and the loud breathing of the elephant was heard. Everyone's attention was focused towards Eric.

Daley gasped and turned towards everyone's worried faces.

"I feel no pulse.."

xxxxxx

Note from Sahelseeah: Hello. Yes, this chapter seemed a bit _sad_, don't you think? But everyone's back together again! Yay! And there you have it: an elephant. Well, the bad parrt is that he's sick!. Anyway, please review... Until then... good-bye 2006!


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